Eating into my exercise calories

markhort

Just been to the gym after work like normal on a Monday, logged what I've done. Still have 1196 calories left!

I've already had dinner. I don't feel hungry, and I've eaten 1532 so far today, I'lll probably have some carrots and peanut butter in a hour or so, but I'm still going to be really short. Happens every day I go to the gym,

Has anyone got any ideas on what I can do.

leahraskie

I'm not sure what your calorie goal is but if you've had 1500 today try to at least eat 500 more, for 2000 total. You don't always have to eat back your exercise calories but if you do that for long period of time your weight loss may stall. I guess it also depends on how hard your work out was as well. If I do 400-500 I'll try to eat least eat back 200-300 of that.

Capt_Apollo

drink a glass of milk at every meal.

brower47

Has anyone got any ideas on what I can do.

Eat more.

slomo22

Start drinking heavily.

sassyjae21

Start drinking heavily.

lol no

diannethegeek

Calorie dense foods like avocado, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, dark chocolate, whole milk, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, less lean cuts of meat, full calorie sauces and dressings, ice cream, Greek yogurt, muffins, protein shakes, smoothies, and bars, etc.

This, of course, assumes that you're getting an accurate estimate of your calories burned. MFP or gym machine readouts have a tendency to overestimate certain activities, so you may not need to eat back as many as you think.

ErisDyscordia

Just been to the gym after work like normal on a Monday, logged what I've done. Still have 1196 calories left!

I've already had dinner. I don't feel hungry, and I've eaten 1532 so far today, I'lll probably have some carrots and peanut butter in a hour or so, but I'm still going to be really short. Happens every day I go to the gym,

Has anyone got any ideas on what I can do.

I have 0 appetite for a few hours after I exercise, so this happens to me too, especially if I got to the gym in the early evening. You could try just eating something kind of dense in calories (like the peanut butter you mentioned), as well as eating a bit more at meals and such on days you are planning to go to the gym, so that you are at higher calories before you go. Might be easier to add just a little more to every meal than having to eat a bunch after.

beccadaniixox

If you know you're going to burn a lot at the gym later in the day, then you can eat more during the day before hand since you'll burn it off later.

MRSpivey

Without knowing more about you (since your profile is void of information), you not including much in your post (other than calories), and your activity/diary not able to be viewed (how many meals a day do you eat, what are your target macros, etc.) it is difficult to provide basis based suggestions. Therefore, I would target to only eat back half of your estimated calories burned and what you do consume make it high in protein.

stephe1987

If you're not hungry, don't worry about it (as long as you ate at least 1200 calories for the day). If you are hungry, I would suggest eating back about half of those exercise calories. MFP and gyms often overestimate calories burned so you don't want to eat back more than you actually burned.

croulez

What do you mean by eating into your exercise calories?Can you please explain to me.Thanks!

markhort

Thanks for all the tips. My burnt calories are according the the machines in the gym after entering my height and weight, so I thought it should be pretty accurate.

I think for now, I'll just have a larger lunch, and snacks in the morning and afternoon.

amusedmonkey

Bank them for a special outing this weekend!

dammitjanet0161

Thanks for all the tips. My burnt calories are according the the machines in the gym after entering my height and weight, so I thought it should be pretty accurate.

I think for now, I'll just have a larger lunch, and snacks in the morning and afternoon.

The burn might be overestimated in that case. (although not a problem since you're not planning on eating back 1100+)

I get days like that too - I tend to eat to a similar pattern Monday-Friday and because my calorie goal is fairly high I don't tend to feel much hungrier on exercise days, so I might only eat 100-200 or so back. However I know I'll probably eat out and go for a drink at the weekends so the bigger deficit on exercise days balances out for me as I put a dent in the deficit at weekend! Would it help you to think of your calorie allowance over the week rather than daily? That works for a lot of people.

westiegirl57

Good morning all, I am 57 and have lost 8 lbs in one month with MFP. Although pleased with that I have some questions. I have always exercised so that was not a hurdle for me. I bike 17-20 miles every morning which gives me a calorie burn of safely 850. If it's not too hot I will walk after dinner for 4 miles - 350 calories. My calories for the day are 1200, that is not enough to make my tummy happy so I eat more and balance it with my calorie expenditures. My daughter said to not count my exercise calories and eat that back in food. Well why the heck not? That's why I haul my rear out of bed at 5am and ride every morning. I still try to maintain about a 400 calorie deficit everyday. Am I doing something wrong? I know 2 lbs a week is a safe amount to lose but I am exercising quite a bit. Should I not use my exercise calories as the go ahead to eat more food? Also, the food I consume is healthy and not junk.

diannethegeek

Good morning all, I am 57 and have lost 8 lbs in one month with MFP. Although pleased with that I have some questions. I have always exercised so that was not a hurdle for me. I bike 17-20 miles every morning which gives me a calorie burn of safely 850. If it's not too hot I will walk after dinner for 4 miles - 350 calories. My calories for the day are 1200, that is not enough to make my tummy happy so I eat more and balance it with my calorie expenditures. My daughter said to not count my exercise calories and eat that back in food. Well why the heck not? That's why I haul my rear out of bed at 5am and ride every morning. I still try to maintain about a 400 calorie deficit everyday. Am I doing something wrong? I know 2 lbs a week is a safe amount to lose but I am exercising quite a bit. Should I not use my exercise calories as the go ahead to eat more food? Also, the food I consume is healthy and not junk.

This might get more responses if you posted your own thread instead of piggybacking onto an older one, but yes, MFP is designed to set your calorie goal a little lower than other calculators with the assumption that you'll log your exercise and eat back at least a portion of the extra calories you burn working out. You're supposed to eat your exercise calories back.

oneuglyduck

I'm always under calories on days off. I ride horses and compete and only average about 900-1200 on days off and the scale never budges yet I'm not wanting heavy foods when its hot out. I sometimes do protein shakes but in the heat cant stand them. So I understand you being under your calorie goal.

ELLager

Hold on...the calories you don't intake can be used for the weekends? I didn't know we could do that!? Could you explain a little more? How does that work? I had a terrible weekend (Well actually a lot of fun) but full of calories but during the week im always under. I walk on all my breaks at work so I tend to burn about 400 calories

klkateri

Start drinking heavily.

Can I get in that lol?!
It's like the Supermodel diet... Champagne and cigarettes!!

jessicagrieshaber

Bank them for a special outing this weekend!

This. Or save them and get drunk this weekend. Totally kidding, though.

Working out tends to be an appetite suppressor for some. If you are eating 1500 calories and still reaching your macros without feeling undernourished, light headed, or hungry, then I would say you are fine. If however you feel like you should be eating back some of those calories (like mentioned multiple times before), dive into some higher-calorie, nutrient-dense foods like mixed nuts or peanut butter. You could also try cooking with some olive oil.